June 2018 e-Report

President's Pen

Chief Executive's Report

PRINZ News

Partner News

New Members

President's Pen

Looking forward to our future together

Thank you for your faith in me, electing me as President. I've been a member of PRINZ for just over 20 years now and a journalist for many years before that. As one of the older female practitioners in PRINZ, I see myself as an example to younger women that you can continue to be active and successful in public relations and communications. Providing, of course, that we keep up with all the digital, technological and professional developments that are so essential for best practice and the best results.

Under the guidance of our previous chair Katie Mathison and our chief executive Elaine Koller, PRINZ is in very good heart. Our conference achieved even higher attendance than the record-breaking one in my home town Christchurch last year; our courses are more frequent and well attended; earlier this year our membership reached a new high of 1500; and in 2020, we will host the Global Alliance World Public Relations Forum in New Zealand.

But Elaine isn't resting on her laurels and is busy implementing an ambitious professional development programme for members, along with a raft of other activities. And our energetic volunteers representing our branches keep local members engaged with topics and speakers at meetings ideal for local networking.

However, as we all know, the industry faces challenges - the most enduring of them being the perception peddled by our critics of superficiality and a lack of digital savvy. We must all continue to prove them wrong in our day-to-day activities, achievements and ethical practice. PRINZ needs to keep speaking out every time we face unfair criticism. Katie has been vigilant on this and I must take up the cudgels too: stand up for the professional communication and engagement we do every day, using our success stories to show how we do it. You can do your bit by letting Elaine know whenever you see anything published, anywhere, running us down.

It's so easy for people outside our profession to attack what we do - PR has long been under attack like this. But the laziness of their prejudices will eventually be overcome if we speak up and stand up for ourselves. Let's do just that.

I look forward to representing you for the next two years and to meeting as many of you as I can.

Chief Executive's Report

Each year the PRINZ Conference is a real highlight. This year was no exception and I’d like to thank the Waikato members for being gracious hosts and making the event an outstanding success.

Our speakers were considered and inspiring and I learnt something from each person. I also appreciate the opportunity to chat with so many members and find out what is happening in your world. This helps us to work out how we can better support our industry and you as members of PRINZ.

Photos from the two days can be found here and we will also share presentations and video highlights with delegates shortly.

Thank you to all our inspiring speakers, our student volunteers, the PRINZ Conference organising committee, and everyone who attended. We’re also very grateful to our sponsors. Thanks to Isentia our principal conference sponsor but also to Research First, HMC Communications, One Plus One Communications and WEL Networks.

At the PRINZ Awards Gala Dinner we recognised the outstanding work being done by our members. Congratulations to all the finalists and category winners! Take a look at the photos and awards results.

I’d like to highlight our Supreme Award winners Cheryl Klaui, Darin To’o, Jenny Riches, Kim Chambers and Rebecca Lancashire from the Department of Internal Affairs for their work on the ‘He Tohu Exhibition’ a campaign to rehouse New Zealand’s constitutional documents, as well as our two PR Consultancy of the Year winners - HMC Communications, Hamilton (small to medium category) and Campbell Squared Communications, Tauranga (medium to large category), Paul Dryden Tertiary Award winners, Amelia Cheng, Cathrine Pierce, Elizabeth Osborne and Michael Bain from AUT University for ‘Mercy Ships New Zealand: A Maritime Campaign’ and to our Sally Logan-Milne young practitioner of the year, Natasha Stubbing, from Northland Regional Council.

I’d also like to thank Chief Judge, Lisa Finucane and the judging panel for their significant contribution. This was Lisa’s final year as Chief Judge and she passes the mantle over to Kate Woodruffe.

Finally, I’d also like to thank Katie Mathison, now Immediate Past President, for her tireless support over the last two years and welcome Felicity Price, our new President onboard.

From all of us here in the PRINZ office, thank you for your continued support.

PRINZ News

2018 PRINZ Awards results announced

The Department of Internal Affairs has been awarded the Supreme Award for its entry ‘He Tohu Exhibition’ at the 2018 annual PRINZ Awards.

This campaign, to re-house New Zealand’s iconic constitutional documents, reached the hearts and minds of New Zealanders for a once-in-a-lifetime event that captured national attention. The campaign also won the ‘Marketing Communication – Integrated’ Award category.